A lot can happen in two weeks. Since the last round of Premier League fixtures back in August (which for football fans seems like an eternity ago) the transfer window slammed shut on September 1st with many surprise movers and even more surprising stalemates on deadline day which saw the likes of Phillipe Coutinho and Virgil Van Dijk remain at Liverpool and Southampton respectively after the saga’s surrounding their futures dragged on the entire summer. Harry Kane returned to goal-scoring ways on duty with England after his August woes while United fans will be frothing at the fact the new frontman Romelu Lukaku netted a fine hat-trick for Belgium in mid-week.
Weekend Premier League Fixtures:
Saturday September 9th
Man City vs Liverpool
Arsenal vs Bournemouth
Leicester City vs Chelsea
Southampton vs Watford
Everton vs Tottenham
Brighton vs West Brom
Stoke vs Man United
Sunday September 10th
Burnley vs Crystal Palace
Swansea vs Newcastle
Monday September 11th
West Ham vs Huddersfield
Man City vs Liverpool
Fourth-place Manchester City host second-place Liverpool in the opening fixture of the weekend and is easily the stand-out match in Gameweek 4. Both teams are level on seven points apiece and will each be looking for all three points as they look to set a precedent over the rest of the chasing pack and keep up early momentum at the top-end of the table. They drew the corresponding fixture 1-1 last season with goals from Sergio Aguero while former Citizen James Milner netted for the Reds.
Arsenal vs Bournemouth
At the other end of the table, 16th placed Arsenal welcome Bournemouth in 18th to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday as they look to resurrect their seasons before it’s too late. Arsenal’s 4-3 victory over Leicester on the opening day remain their only points thus far following back-to-back defeats away to Stoke City and Liverpool where they shipped five goals in the process, failing to find the back of the net themselves. Eddie Howe’s side haven’t fared any better and are yet to get off the mark in 2017/18 and despite and improved performance against Man City before the break, will need to be at their best if they are to win for the very first time against the Gunners.
Leicester City vs Chelsea
The Foxes start to the season doesn’t get any easier. The 2015/16 Champions have already tasted defeat away to Arsenal and most recently at Man United and now face an even tougher task as they welcome the Champions that deposed them in 2016/17, Chelsea. After suffering a shock 3-2 defeat at home to Burnley on opening day, the Blues recorded impressive wins against Tottenham and Everton to lift them back into the top half of the table. Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester beat Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea 2-1 on their way to the title in December 2015 but have since conceded 11 goals in the four games since against the Blues, without victory.
Everton vs Tottenham
Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham Hotspur will have new signing Serge Aurier in their squad when travel to the blue half of Merseyside to tackle Everton, who have looked strong so far this season under Ronald Koeman. The Ivorian full-back joined from Paris St Germain and will bring robust pace to the wide areas for Spurs as they look to challenge for the title once again this year and hopefully go one better than they managed last, when they finished second behind London rivals Chelsea. The Toffees have managed just one win in their last five games at home against Tottenham, in December 2012, drawing three and losing one since.
Stoke vs Man United
The Potters face table-toppers Manchester United in the final game on Saturday looking to throw an early spanner into the works of what has been a flawless machine engineered by the brilliant Jose Mourinho. United have scored ten goals, are yet to concede in their three games so far and currently occupy first place in the Premier League. The title race is marathon and not a sprint, and although being top in August isn’t any sort of achievement, it is a small step in the right direction and this season, United fans will tell you that they are well on their way. This weekend will be no easy task though -the Red Devils have won just once in their last five trips to Stoke, drawing twice and losing twice in the four seasons since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.